The Most Painful Animal Labs in the Country

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SAEN updated its registry of the most painful vivisection labs last week, now including data up through 2009, which is the most recent year for which information is available.

The report criticizes both animal testing itself and the ways in which data about animal testing are collected.

SAEN bases its “most painful labs” report on data describing how often animals used in experimentation are subjected to what is called “unrelieved pain,” that is, experimentation where animals are subjected to painful tests without relief, tranquilizers, anesthesia, analgesia or euthanasia.Federal guidelines dictate that animals can only endure unrelieved pain when scientifically necessary for the purposes of research, and it should come as no great surprise that it is very frequently scientifically necessary to subject animals to unrelieved pain.

SAEN says that the accuracy of data for unrelieved pain can suffer from simple clerical errors, as well as different interpretations of what unrelieved pain can mean. For example, some labs list animals that have been deprived of food or water in the category of unrelieved pain, while others do not.

Utah and Georgia both have two facilities, each in the top ten of the list, with Utah’s two biggest public universities — Utah State University and University of Utah — ranking 2nd and 6th respectively. The most painful lab in the country is the Aberdeen Proving Ground, a facility controlled by the US Army in Maryland.

The simple fact that a list like this one exists is proof of the horrifying nature of animal testing. The concept of unrelieved pain and intentionally depriving animals of food and water is something that can be recorded and registered on a chart like any other data. We have institutionalized animal suffering to such an extent that the idea of an animal being tortured or starved becomes a data point on a spreadsheet, instead of what it actually is: a tragedy.

Vivisection is not only horrifying and ethically abhorrent, but scientifically unreliable. Furthering alternative research methods will not only produce more reliable data, but will forego the need to torture animals entirely.

This report is dated 2009. Has anything changed? I know there has been steps taken to end the cruelty that goes on in these labs. I know firsthand how horrible it is for these animals as my ex-husband worked in the University Of California Irvine Vivarium for 10 years and I would see them when I went to his work. It was horrible. Dogs and cats and monkeys in cages with electrodes implanted into their heads... begging with their eyes for freedom. My ex's boss.. a real psycho, got angry at a monkey because the monkey bit him, and grabbed the monkey and slammed him to the ground, killing him. The sight still haunts me. Rats confined in little plastic bins living their entire lives crammed with many other rats. This terrible practice needs to end.. forever!

It is barbaric, cruel and horrific at every level. Wish all the "researchers, vets" and anyone who participates in these horrible practices to experience at some point in life the same physical pain. And when they do, to think about the pain they inflicted on to other living beings.

Animal testing is completely wrong, its torture and unnecessary! And completely agree it is unreliable, they are not the same species as humans so surely testing them on something which is for humans is wrong! They have different DNA so leave them alone! Its so disgusting and should be illegal.

If you think about it carefully, this is not much different than what Dr. Mengele did.

Yes, they're animals and not humans, but the intent to knowingly and wilfully, and in many cases uselessly, inflict pain and harm could not be more clear. It goes against the Hippocratic Oath and all other standards of civilized medicine.